Japan shares end higher on fresh US stimulus hopes

TOKYO: Japanese shares ended higher on Monday, tracking a gain in Wall Street futures in Asian trade, on hopes of a new US coronavirus relief deal before the presidential election.

The benchmark Nikkei share average rose 1.11% to close at 23,671.13, while the broader Topix gained 1.25% to 1,637.98.

Both of the indexes marked their biggest daily gains since Oct. 5.

All 33 sector sub-indexes on the Tokyo exchange traded higher, with shippers, rubber products and iron and steel being the top three performers on the main bourse.

Shares were lifted by S&P 500 e-mini futures, last trading up 0.7%, after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she was optimistic that legislation on a wide-ranging coronavirus relief package could be pushed through before the Nov. 3 election.

But with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in the Middle East until Tuesday, analysts suspect a deal to be a long shot.

On the domestic data front, Japan's exports in September fell at a slower pace than in the previous six months as US-bound shipments of cars started to recover from lows brought about by the COVID-19 outbreak, suggesting the pandemic's pressure on the economy was easing.

Markets shrugged off data from China showing economic recovery disappointed in the third-quarter, growing 4.9% from a year earlier and missing analyst expectations.

"(The forecasts) were high due to the market having a slight excessive expectation of a pick-up trend in China's economy," said Kokichiro Mio, senior researcher at NLI Research Institute.

Despite missing expectations, "the economy is recovering steadily," he added.

Toho Co soared 4.47%, after hitting its highest since September 2019 earlier in the session, as the film and entertainment company raised its net profit forecast.

Toshiba Corp climbed 2.55%, after the homegrown conglomerate said it aims to generate $3 billion in revenue from its quantum cryptography by 2030.